Here With Me
by Aille
Summary: Severus finds Harry in the shower, after getting up really late for class, complaining that he hasn't been feeling well for a while. - Complete


**TITLE**: Here With Me  
**CHAPTER**: Sleeping In  
**AUTHOR**: Teigra  
**E-MAIL**: teigra_kefira@yahoo.com  
**PAIRING**: Harry/Severus  
**SERIES**: Yes, somewhere in the "Harry Potter & The Golden Dragon" time line, 7th Year.  
**ARCHIVE**: My pages, and any place else, please ask first.  
**CLASSIFICATION**: PG-15  
**SUMMARY**: Severus finds Harry in the shower, after getting up really late for class, complaining that he hasn't been feeling well for a while.  
**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own them... She does *points to JKR* and I am making no money from this, I'm just enjoying sharing some of my own crazy ideas.  
**AUTHORS NOTE**: I'm trying a different writing style than my normal kind... so this may ramble a bit as I get into the swing of things. Please forgive me. *Pathetic look* Also I know these two are a bit OOC... it's the shock... Sev will become his good old cranky self again soon.  
**AUTHORS NOTE 2**: In my mind, Hermione is 19 in this fic because of her excessive usage of the Time Turner in their third year, adding 1 1/2 onto her life.  
**AUTHORS NOTE 3**: This was originally going to be more than a one part fic, which is why there is so much in the beginning (plus recapping on four other stories that come before this). However, I decided that this was a nice place to leave it and begin on the next part in the series.  
**THANKS**: To my three lovely beta readers: HermioneHeidi, Lisa and Carol Snape.  
  
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**'Here With Me'  
'Sleeping In'**

  
  
Things had changed so rapidly in Harry's life over the past summer, he *almost* wasn't surprised when he got back to the school that he was called to Dumbledore's office for one of the old man's chats. Well, really the changes started long before that, however, only one other person knew about that and neither of them were willing to share that particular change with anyone just yet. Harry smiled to himself, in less then ten months, he would be able to let the whole world know about his lover. It hurt him to know that he couldn't spend the summer with him, but now that the school year had started up again, things were going to be a lot better for the two of them.   
  
Not to say that the summer hadn't been interesting... no... this past summer had been a series of surprises almost right from the beginning...  
  
Remus and Sirius had captured Wormtail, making Sirius a free man. They had been over in Canada, protecting an important witch, whom nobody seemed to know anything about. Harry had been worried sick about his godfather, who hadn't contacted him in over three months, until he saw him in the Headmaster's office, ten days after he had been sent back to the Dursley's for the summer. He offered Harry a home once again and moved to Black Manor only a day later (after getting a bit of revenge on the Dursleys). Sirius had spent most of the summer sick in bed because of an old, nearly forgotten curse he had been hit with while protecting Remus while they had been over in the New World. Of course, that didn't stop him from teaching Harry many of the tricks that he himself had used during his years at Hogwarts. Harry was almost glad he wasn't taking Muggle Studies with Hermione this year, for he knew all the tricks that Sirius was going to be playing on his students.   
  
Madam Teigra Nurr, the witch that Sirius and Remus had been protecting had come to Hogwarts when the Death Eaters had attacked her home. From what Harry understood, she had been the healer in the village she had been hiding in. Now that the Death Eaters knew where she had been hiding,she decided to come treat Sirius. At least, that was her excuse. He had to admit she was brilliant, the curse his godfather had been hit by should have killed him, yet, she saved his life. Staying by his side for the two months it took him to recover. Now the two of them were inseparable (though to hear Moony say it, they were all ready a couple before the attack, but the just wouldn't give into the inevitable).  
  
Professor Dumbledore had told him that she was going to be teaching at Hogwarts this year as a DADA Assistant. It seemed that this year there was going to be an extra push on that class. The first though fourth years had Professor Hellfire, who actually made it though a whole year and was back for a second; and the fifth though seventh years would be taught by Professor Lupin & Madam Nurr. Plus, as if the DADA classes weren't enough, she was also going to be both helping in the Hospital Wing and in Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class. When Harry had asked her about this over the summer, all she would say was that part of what they were learning in DADA would correspond with something in CoMC.  
  
It wasn't all this that made her seem odd in his eyes though, the woman was positively tiny, being maybe only 4'7". Harry knew he wasn't tall, not by any stretch of the imagination, but beside this woman, he felt like a giant. There had only been three other people that made him feel tall, at least out of the people who were his age or older, the younger student's didn't really count in that respect. Then there was Rem...   
  
Professor Lupin (he had to remember to call him that again) also had a girlfriend. Though he wouldn't have known about that if he hadn't walked in on Hermione and Remus making out in one of the little used parlours of Black Manor. They told him that they had been together for about two years by that point. He of course didn't have a problem this, considering he was dating an older man himself for over a year now. He almost told them about his lover; however, he knew that Severus was one whom liked to keep his private life private.  
  
Then there was Ron and Neville... they had *finally* gotten together. Although… Ron was being really odd about it. Ever since the two of them had arrived that the Manor two weeks into the summer break, Ron had been hovering around Neville. From what he could understand, Ron's brothers, Fred & George, had used one of their new tricks on Neville and it had reacted badly. Harry, though he wouldn't say this to Ron, was glad that the twins had done something to get them together. It had been obvious since fourth year that they both were carrying a flame for the other, yet wouldn't do anything to remedy the situation.  
  
He couldn't help but smile... it had definitely been an interesting summer.  
  
Arriving at the gargoyle, he said the password (Red Hots) and started up the spiral staircase. Once he reached the top, he raised his hand to knock at the door and heard, "Come in, Harry."  
  
Opening the door, he started to ask, "How did yo..." The words stopped dead on his lips, Severus was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the Headmaster's desk, with a cup of tea in his hand. "Pr... Pro... professor?"  
  
"Ah, Harry, how good of you to join us. Please have a seat." Dumbledore motioned towards the other chair in front of the desk, which he promptly sat in. "Lemon drop?"  
  
Shaking his head no, Harry quickly glanced at Severus, trying to judge the situation he now found himself in. "Ah, Professor Dumbledore..." stopping short when the Headmaster held up his hand.  
  
"All in good time, Harry, all in good time." The old man's eyes twinkled at the two younger men sitting across the desk. "Now, it has come to my attention that the animosity that you two shared a few years ago, has all but diminished." His lip twitched towards a smile, "I'm glad to see that the time that you spent together last year helped cure that little problem. However," he folded his hands on the desk and leaned forward, "I must ask that you two once again keep your relationship quiet for the school year."  
  
"Ho... b... bu... how did... how could... we never... How did you find out?" Harry stammered, one hand raking spasmodically though his hair and the other reaching out blindly towards Severus, who took it within his own.   
  
Unclasping his hands, Dumbledore smiled at the two men. "My dear boy, did you not expect for me to go check up on you two from time to time?" Glancing at the older of the pair in front of him. "Now, Severus, before you say anything... please let me continue. There are a few things I wish to say before you two start defending yourselves."   
  
The twinkle in his eyes almost glowing. "Now, Harry, as you know, the Seventh years are put into pairs in rooms, instead of having them all in the same dormitory. Normally, we allow the student's to make their choices the year before and as I recall, you and Mr. Weasley put your names down together. However, during the first week of the summer break, I received a letter from both Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Weasley asking for a change of roommates. If you recall, Mr. Longbottom was staying alone. I have seen fit to honour their request... however, I do not feel comfortable leaving you in a room without supervision, with Voldemort on the loose. I would have asked for you to stay with Sirius, but he now has a roommate..." he chuckled, "and Remus, well, he and Hermione have all ready come to me to speak about their relationship. Since she is Headgirl, it is easier to explain why she does not dorm with the other females of her class for she all ready has her own room."   
  
"I wouldn't ask Professor Flitwick to share, the old man wouldn't be able to keep up with you and I would prefer to keep you within the walls of the school, so Hagrid is out of the question. I can't keep you up here, so that only leaves me with the option of having you stay with Professor Snape during the school year." Oh yes, he was enjoying the looks of shock that was appearing on their faces. "Of course, you must keep separate rooms, for the sake of the Board of Governors and the other students and maintain your animosity outside your quarters." It really wasn't too often he got to see Severus so rattled.   
  
Turning his gaze upon the potions masters, "Dear boy, did you really think I wouldn't notice the fact that your heart was taken? It's been obvious since he first came to the school. What I couldn't understand was your blatant refusal to be nice to him, considering your feelings. Oh I know that he was too young at the time, that he wouldn't understand the concept of Soul Mates until much later, however, you could have tried to be a little bit nice. " Oh he was so enjoying seeing the young man out of sorts, he didn't get to do this often enough.   
  
"Now are both of you willing to agree to this arrangement?"   
  
Severus being the first to pull himself together from the shock squeezed his lover's hand then gently let it go. "You old fox, I don't know how you did it, nor how you found out about it and" raising his hand, "I really don't want to know. Yes, I'll agree to this, how could I not?" Turning his patented glare on the Headmaster. "I believe that Harry and I can keep the masses believing that we are enemies as always, at least until the end of the school year. I will *not* however have my rooms becoming the meeting place of the whole of Gryffindor."   
  
Chuckling, Harry broke in, "Sev, do you really think that they would want to come down into Slytherin territory? Ron's going to have a heart attack when he finds out that I'm going to be staying down there." He couldn't help but grin. "I'm so going to love telling him that I won't be around our dorm this year. Of course, Headmaster, as always the brave Gryffindor, I accept your terms." He smirks at Severus.   
  
"Ah, good, now that that is settled, I have only one more request of the two of you, before I send you on your way."   
  
"Only one more? Why do I have the feeling that there is going to be a whole lot more than just one more request before this is all said and done with, Albus? It's not like this is something that is easily hidden. Completely against the school charter."   
  
"Yes , Severus, only one more, for now." He watches the man become completely exacerbated and can only feel a sense of pride for causing the normally controlled man to become completely frustrated. "When you two finally announce your bonding, let me be there." He laughs, "For I know it's all ready been completed, I can't exactly suspend the best potions master this school has ever seen for sleeping with his husband. There are loopholes within the rules. Now, when you two are ready to come and give me the excuses for not telling me earlier about your relationship, I want you to come back, but for now, get out of my office."   
  
With that Dumbledore escorted the two shocked men out of his office and turned to Fawkes. "Ah, to be young and in love again."  
  
*****************************************   
  
It had been eight months since that fateful day when Harry stepped into the Headmasters office. Eight months where he had been able to sleep beside the man that he loved without the worry of being found out and expelled. It had been a blissful eight months.   
  
Not that it had been easy, the war with Voldemort had gotten to a point where it wasn't safe to even leave the castle any more without an armed escort. Many of the students that would have normally gone home for the Yule break were forced to stay at the school that year for their had been an attack at platform nine and three-quarters a few weeks before the break and the Ministry shut it down for an undetermined amount of time. Though, at least now the Ministry was accepting the fact that Voldemort was back... after the idiot Fudge had been pulled from his position of power and another put in his place.   
  
Harry found that he was always tired now. Between his extra DADA classes, on top of the four hours of Advanced DADA classes he took with the rest of the remaining seventh years, the Animagus training (at least that was over now) and now... well, he wasn't exactly sure why he so tired now. He hadn't wanted to say anything to Severus about it, even though for the past month or so he had felt off, for he didn't want to worry his lover, but he nearly passed out in his extra DADA classes the night before. Also, when get got up this morning he barely made it to the loo in time, prompting him to crawl back into bed, thankful he really didn't have to get up until his Charms class at 2.   
  
It was time to talk to Sev.   
  
Harry rolled over in bed, yawning. He really needed to get up out of bed, Sev would be coming back from his double period of fourth year Gryffindors & Slytherins in a few minutes and he didn't want his lover to catch him lounging around in bed all day. Any ways, they would both have to be seen up in the Great Hall for the lunch period; his friends were probably already wondering why he hadn't shown up for breakfast. Harry really didn't want to go up to the Great Hall though. The day before, the smells coming from the food were making him nauseous and he had barely won the fight to keep down his food.  
  
Pulling himself out of bed, he made his way over to the washroom he and Sev shared and started getting ready for the day.   
  
*******************   
  
Severus was in a foul mood when he stepped into his chambers. With less than two months left in the term, it looked like he might actually have to fail one of his students. And to make matters worse, it was one of the Slytherins whom couldn't get control of his potion making abilities. It was simply unheard of.  
  
Completely disgusted with the class in general, he had dismissed them all twenty minutes early. Two cauldrons had exploded, all over him no less, and out of the other eight simmering, not one would be completed properly. He was just going to have to do the potion again next week. At least they would all have a better knowledge of the process, the four-foot long parchment he assigned would see to that. However, right now, he needed a shower if he was going to be presentable for lunch.  
  
Draping his soiled robe over the old wooden chair by his desk for just such things, he made his way into the bedroom and couldn't help but smile a little. It never ceased to amaze him that the man he loved, loved him back. As he continued to shed his clothing, he paused on his way threw the room by the bed to brush his fingers along his lovers side. There was a slight indentation with spoke of a late rising and the loud, spectacularly off-key singing coming from the shower meant the young man was still here and thought he was alone. He was just going to have to remedy that.   
  
Stripping off the rest of his cloths, he moved with the silence he had developed over the years and slipped into the bathroom. There were signs everywhere that his young lover had just risen from their bed. His dressing gown was draped over the toilet, shaving cream, special made, and razor lay on the edge of the sink, little bits of stubble left sitting in the sink and his tooth brush, as usual, on the floor where it fell from its precarious perch on the sink. Severus just couldn't understand how the room could look like it was in a state of shambles while the young man was in it, yet when he left, it would be pristine.   
  
Moving the curtain from the shower stall, he let his gaze run over his lover's body. It was small, one of the physical manifestations of the abuse he suffered as a child and teenager. However, years of quidditch training and practically two years of being under the special diet created by the Potions Master saw that he was well filled out. His gaze fell to the thin white scars that littered his lover's body and even after almost two years he still felt regret for not seeing the pain he had been in before the fateful day when he carried the young man, broken and bloody, out of the Muggles home.   
  
Shaking his head, he stepped into the shower and wrapped his arms around the mans waist and rested his head onto the others. Enlisting a yelp from the other man, yet quite predictably stopping the singing. "Dear goddess Sev, don't do that!" Harry grumped, while sinking back into the older mans embrace. "I missed you," he sighed. "And I missed you."  
  
Taking the soap from Harry's hand, he started washing the other's torso, his free hand making lazy circles on the taught stomach. "Now, what are you doing just getting up? People are going to start thinking I poisoned you during the night and hid the body," he joked. Except for Dumbledore, just about everyone in the school believed the two men were constantly at each other's throat, yet forced to room together because of Dumbledore. If anything, their fighting outside of their rooms was just growing more heated. Only a few days before, Severus' cutting words had broken Harry into tears, causing his friends and godfather to not let him go to his rooms until curfew had long past.   
  
Turning, Harry burred his head into Sev's chest. "I wasn't feeling well and I'm really, really tired Sev."   
  
Placing a hand under the younger mans chin, gently forcing it up so they could make eye contact. "Tell me what's wrong." He tightened his grip around Harry's waist, giving a gentle reminder that he was there for him.   
  
"It's sort of been going on for the last month or so..."   
  
"The last *month*?" Ducking his head and trying to turn away, Harry nodded, however, Severus would have none of that and once again tightened his grip. "Go on love..."   
  
"I... I... I've been really tired lately and I've been feeling nauseous. Not sick, just queasy. Certain smells make me want to go to the loo and I really don't want to go to the Great Hall 'cause all the smells make me sick." He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, then continued, "Yesterday I nearly passed out in Advanced DADA, but that wasn't the first time I've felt really dizzy. And this morning... this morning I got really sick when I first woke up, so I decided to stay in bed till lunch. It's not like I missed any classes 'cause I don't have any till this afternoon. I feel OK now... just a little tired." His pink tinged ears told Sev that he was blushing, but during his description he had wrapped both arms about the older man and was holding on tight. "I just can't understand it... I tried a Pepper-Up Potion, but that hasn't helped at all."   
  
Severus stood there for a few minutes thinking over the symptoms that Harry had just described, letting the hot water cascade over the both of them. It all sounded very similar. Over the last several years, many of the Slytherin females had come to him for potions to both confirm and even terminate what was causing it. It didn't happen very often to men and Sev couldn't believe that it might be true, but he had to test his theory.   
  
"Harry, just stay here for one moment." He stroked his lover's cheek and tried to disengage from his body. "I just want to get something that might help us figure out what's wrong." Slipping out of his grasp, he made his way out of the shower. "I'll be right back."   
  
Moving quickly, pausing only to grab his dressing gown from a peg near the bed, Sev walked into the room where he kept those potions too controversial to keep in his office or personal stores connected to his classroom. Plucking up a small glass vial from one of the many shelves, he nodded and without even breaking his stride, he turned and headed back to the bathroom.   
  
Entering the smaller room just has Harry was stepping out of the shower, he was once again struck by how lucky he was to have this man in his life. "Harry..." his voice catching as the younger man turned towards him, steam from the freshly finished shower billowing around him.   
  
"Yes?" He was looking at the little vial, the clear liquid sloshing around.   
  
"Love, if I ask you something, will you do it?"   
  
"Sev, if you're going to ask me to drink that, just hand it over. Please? I really do want to start feeling better." Harry was both a little frightened and frustrated. Normally the older man was very direct and to the point, the last time he had been like this Harry had just been waking up from being unconscious for about a week.   
  
Laughing, "No love, you don't drink this. I... I just need a drop of your blood. If it stays clear, then it's something else... if it turns blue, then I've figured out what's wrong. It hasn't happened in a long time... but I figured it out."   
  
Holding out his hand, Harry eyed his lover. "What do you think it is?"   
  
"Nothing bad, nothing bad at all. I just want to rule it out." Taking the cork out of the bottle, a glint of stainless steal could be seen, a needle had been embedded into the cork guaranteeing its use only for this potion. Quickly pricking Harry's finger, he collected the blood into the vial, re-corked it and shook the mixture together.   
  
"Well, we have a few minutes before I'll know the results. Let's go into the bedroom." Holding the vile in one hand, Severus takes Harry's hand and leaves him into the other room.   
  
Feeling uncomfortable, Harry sat on the bed, pulling the blankets around himself and watched his lover who was pacing the floor and muttering. He wasn't sure what to think, Severus was normally very straightforward in everything he did. This somewhat dazed look he was giving every time he looked at the vile was confusing him. What if he was really sick and because he didn't way something sooner, Sev couldn't heal him. Even though it had only been a few minutes that he had been sitting there, it felt like it had been hours already.   
  
By the time Severus stopped pacing, his back was to Harry. Staring down at the little vile in his hand, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was blue! Quickly shoving the vile into a pocket in his dressing gown, he turned to look at his lover. It truly was amazing that the man sitting on his bed loved him this much to produce such a miracle.   
  
Moving over to the bed, he knelt in front of the younger man, recognizing the confusing in the younger mans gaze. "Harry, I..." he trailed off for a moment, truly at a loss for words. "Harry, do you trust me?"   
  
Reaching out a hand, Harry cupped Severus' face, "That's a silly question, love, I trust you implicitly. You've made me whole."   
  
Nuzzling into the offered hand, "And you know I love you with everything that I am and more. That I would never leave you for any reason."   
  
"Sev, please tell me what's wrong with me. You're scaring me."   
  
"You really trust me?"   
  
"Yes, you greasy-haired git, I really trust you." Harry couldn't help but quip.   
  
Gracing Harry with one of his real smiles, the kind he hardly ever let anyone see, he reached up and gently removed the blanket from around his love. "You're not going to class today and I'm not going back this afternoon. I'll make our excuses." He trailed his fingers up Harry's arms, eliciting a shiver from him. "We've got a lot to talk about..." Leaning forward, he first gave his young love a chaste kiss, while his hands trailed down his chest, the younger man shivering under his touch. Moving his head down to pause over his abdomen, his hands coming to rest at the other mans waist. Leaning in again, he placed a kiss on his stomach and whispered so quietly Harry almost didn't hear him. "Hello in there, little one, I'm your father." Then laid his head against Harry, wrapping his arms around him as if he was afraid he would disappear.   
  
Harry sat there in shock, one hand lacing its way threw Severus wet hair. Did he really hear what he thought he heard?   
  
"Sev?"   
  
"Mmm..."   
  
"What did you just say?" Disbelief flooding his voice.  
  
Lifting his head so that he could look Harry in the eyes. "I don't understand it... the last time this happened was over seventy years ago. Though, they were also the last documented male soul mates." Taking a deep breath, "Harry, you're... No... we're going to have a baby."   
  
Leaning down to capture Severus' lips with his own, Harry kissed him deeply. After a while, when the need for air over ridded the impulse to be joined in some way, Harry gasped, "Pregnant? Is it really possible?" Nodding, Severus leaned his head against Harry's stomach again. "We have to send a message to Dumbledore, with some explanation as to why we're not in class."   
  
"Just tell him I'm sick and you're taking care of me. I don't want to let the old coot know just yet."   
  
"Dear Merlin, Harry, you're starting to sound like me!" Severus laughed and then extracted himself from Harry's lap. "I agree though, I don't want the old man to know yet either." He graced Harry with another smile, feeling that he may not be able to get his familiar scowl back. "Why don't you call Dobby while I pen a note? I'm sure the old coot has all ready noticed that neither of us are in the Great Hall yet for lunch. Which is something you should ask Dobby to send down for us too. You need to eat more now."   
  
*******************************   
  
Ten minutes later in the Great Hall:   
  
"Professor Dumbledore sir..." Dobby was nearly bounding next to the Headmaster's chair.   
  
"Yes Dobby?" The Headmaster turned in his chair towards the excitable House Elf.   
  
"Professor Snape sends Dobby with a note for Profess or Dumbledore sir." The little creature held out the sealed letter to the Headmaster.   
  
Taking the letter, "Thank you Dobby, you can go now." He smiled at the elf, his eyes twinkling as it disappeared with a pop. Turning his attention to the note, he broke the seal, opened it and started to read.  
  
Albus,   
Potter is ill. He will not be attending classes this afternoon. I will be cancelling my classes as well, as I believe the boy is contagious and now have been exposed. I know how to fix it, so the boy, nor I, need Poppy. Don't send the mutt down, as I am not opening the door for anyone. Including you. By dinner time I should no longer be contagious so will be attending dinner and will update you on how the boy is doing. Potter however will not be leaving our rooms until at least tomorrow.  
Severus Snape   
  
Folding the letter up, Dumbledore placed it in his robes., with a knowing twinkle in his eye. Turning towards his colleagues to let them know of the situation, he couldn't help but think that Harry couldn't be better hands. 


End file.
